REM: Classic or dud?

“can’t get there from here” is great wtf

cover of King Of The Road as a legit B side properly kicks off the silly bollocks done for yucks era IMO.

One of their earliest originals was the goofy "Narrator":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqMNPzYFly8

"Cant Get There From Here" is like "Ages of You" in that it's a fusion of different types of song that don't fully cohere. Stipe's Elvis impression + the horns + the main riff go for soul mode but the jangle is still there on the verses. The chorus bores quickly. Is that Stipe or Mills' falsetto? I would never forgive Stipe's vocal here if he hadn't lived in the south (Jagger gets no such benefit).

but it's full of great moments too, besides the falsettos they're Stipe's proclamations:

kiss the ground
bad to swallow
hypnotized, suit and tied
gentlemen, justify

& PHILOMATH ! I went there in high school just because of the song like probably 1/4 of Atlanta area teens. also I now work in philomath in another sense so I did get here from there too!

The middle 8 is the best part of it.

The one I really dislike is 'Radio Song' ... of all the ones mentioned, that's the one that has me reaching for the skip button right away... I like/can tolerate the others. It's just one of the reasons I rank Out of Time at the bottom of the pile of all the Bill Berry-era albums.

Cant Get There From Here has always been top 5 REM for me, I remember being surprised when I found out that most people on ilx think it's not very good. I think I like all of the goofy REM songs mentioned aside from Radio Song
did they do any more of this kind of song after Sidewinder? stuff like Star 69, King Of Comedy + Wake Up Bomb seems feels related but they're goofy in a faux-sleazy rather than faux-naif way, and then Up/Reveal/Around the Sun bring back the faux-naif cutesy stuff but without anything bouncy or zany like earlier examples (maybe Wanderlust?)

"Hey hey alligator" kinda on the last album

More than kinda, actually

"That Someone Is You"
"A Month of Saturdays"

I'm Gonna DJ too but it had plenty of attack live, enough to make it less lolsome.

There's nothing wrong with 'I'm Gonna DJ' and never has been.

"Alligator" has more attack on the live at Hansa Studio video, too, but is pretty much pure bubblegum on the album. Bubblegum with a Lenny Kaye solo.

Is that Stipe or Mills' falsetto?

That's Stipe, and it killed live back in the day (saw Little America and Pageantry tours).

I rank Out of Time very low on the Berry-era list too. Maybe their lest consistent record. And yet! I’ve come to find Radio Song endearing and never hated SHP.

I can't put "We Walk" in this box at all. Or really anything on the albums pre-Superman. But they were definitely into goof-covers live ("In the Year 2025," drunk-wacky "King of the Road" on Dead Letter Office, etc.)

"Can't Get There From Here" meanwhile is eternally classic.

The fanclub singles are ripe with goofiness (“Ghost Reindeer in the Sky”). They’re great.

I love those IRS era albums, but people wildly overstate the quality of them in comparison to the first five WB albums. There's not that much of a gulf in terms of quality and never has been.

otm.

I'm not sure. Was trying to think of where "We Walk" even comes from. My first inclination was to think it was something outside of rock and roll completely (and possibly in the children's music realm, like Disney or something). Putting it on, though, I think of the Velvet Underground and I am reminded of their own children's music aspects.

"I'm Sticking with You," "Andy's Chest," "Velvet Nursery Rhyme"

I mostly connect "We Walk" to Herman's Hermits - "Silhouettes"

'We Walk' was always one of my least favourite tracks on Murmur. That and 'Moral Kiosk' could have both comfortably have been bumped from the record and I wouldn't miss 'em.

“moral kiosk” is so good

Then again, I've never been one for having this stance that Murmur is the best thing the band ever did, like some do. God no.

"We Walk" was huge for me. It was like that famous quote from Peter Pilbeam's approval of the Beatles in their BBC audition well before they even had their record contract. "Not as rock-y as most, more country and western with a tendency to play music." A "tendency to play music" unrestricted by this genre affinity or that.

Think I only saw them play it once and it was later, on the Pageantry tour. One of my distinct memories of that concert.

And the eerie pool sounds rule.

idk i think mumur has such a singular vibe that i totally understand why some people think it’s their best. (i’ve thought it was at different points in my life but rn i prefer new adventures)

“Listing my religion” at 730 am is something no one should be subjected to

"chronic town" > fables > murmur > pageant > green > reckoning > new adventures > automatic > out of time > document > monster > all the rest

I can't be arsed to rank them again, all I'll say is the ones that I return to the most are Reckoning, Document, Green, Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. These have been all-time favourites from the beginning pretty much except for Document which has increasingly become a favourite over the last few years, whereas Lifes Rich Pageant has become less of a favourite.

Best imo: New Adventures/Reconstruction/Murmur with Reckoning and Monster close behind.

Oh and maybe Up too. Dullest posts ever but it's kinda interesting to me they revived themselves creatively so well in the mid 90s. There's plenty of good stuff from Life's to Automatic, they just all feel kinda lacking in identity or something.

top 3 albums: Murmur, Lifes Rich Pageant, Automatic for the People

top 3 songs: Harborcoat, Perfect Circle, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite

top 3 songs: "stumble", "life and how to live it", "shaking through"

hmm..top 3 tracks=Disturbance at the Heron House, Sweetness Follows, Kohoutek.

Kohoutek laughing the one I love

Live stream going on right now on their Facebook page of the one show they did post-Automatic for the People release, at the 40 Watt Club. Recently restored video footage - looks and sounds great.

Loving this set.

Turns out that 40 Watt set had been previously released--it showed up 3 tracks at a time across 4 Monster CD singles.

Speaking of that set...there's now official video, via the band's own YT channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52sMbXI22gg

Ah, gather this was the Facebook stream. But anyway, here it is.

awesome. great sound!

always loved stipe's stage presence

a bunch of my friends were there, if I'd have gone to UGA with the rest of them I'd have been there too. a few hung out with the band after the show too, got to meet Mike Mills' parents.

i really like the version of "drive"

I don't. It's like, let's do "Drive" minus the brooding. What's left? Kinda nothing

It has an increased urgency and simplicity I really like.

it has a different, more uneasy atmosphere than the studio vers. Not saying it's better or anything

It's definitely weird. I've actually never not liked the live version (which afaik always sounded like this) til this time, so maybe I'm just lounging to hear the original

Longing. Or lounging